Fiction and Non-Fiction Books by Mark Spivak

The Iconic Spirits Blog

Gin from Scotland, home of the world’s great single malts? At first, it might seem that someone didn’t get the memo. Look closer, and you’ll find a visionary who read the memo, cheerfully tore it up, and went on to pursue his dream.

The visionary is Simon Buley at Balmenach Distillery in Speyside, founded in 1824 by James McGregor. A devotee of gin, Buley had toyed with the idea of making one at Balmenach from the time of his arrival there, but not just any gin. He wanted to craft a spirit that would make use of the pure, local spring water as well as historical Scottish botanicals. His idea was to fuse tradition and modernity, to create a gin that would bring the past into the present. (more…)